Thanks..."
The girl spoke softly, then fell silent again.
This situation continued for a while, until the restaurant owner approached with two bowls of soup and a rather large loaf of bread.
"Enjoy your food."
"Thank you."
Noid nodded, then reached for the loaf of bread, split it in half, and handed it to the girl.
Then both of them began to bow their heads and eat attentively.
What does real food taste like?
If it were before, Noid wouldn't even think this was a serious question.
But with a tongue and stomach saturated with tree bark and the like, the taste of real food was indeed lost in Noid's memory.
Now, he finally got it back.
The aroma of the bread, dipped in the accompanying soup and brought to his mouth, almost made Noid cry.
Being able to continue living and see tomorrow is a blessing.
Being able to eat and feel the taste of the pond is a blessing.
Like him, the girl also ate very voraciously, however she secretly held back, only eating half of the bread, the rest she stuffed into her body.
Food deprivation not only affects the physical, but also the mental.
As for Noid, he didn't leave any leftovers and ate everything. He didn't even leave a bit of water at the bottom of the soup bowl.
Filling his stomach with hot food, Noid truly felt alive.
After finishing his meal, Noid wandered over to the restaurant owner to ask if there was any place in town where he could make a living. After all, he was a local, so if he was willing to help, it would be much better than him wandering around like an insect that had lost its nest.
However, the situation is not very optimistic.
They arrived too late, most of them had no more room to accommodate the refugees working.
Currently, there are only two paths before Noid.
First, become a slave serving in rich families.
The second is to join the army and become a soldier.
These two paths, both of them are things that poor people like him have no choice but to choose.
Even though he didn't get the result he wanted, Noid still sincerely appreciates the restaurant owner before leaving.
He wanted to hear a little about the situation of these two roads.
Again, nothing good.
A slave is just a slave, without even basic civil rights, not even protected by law. It can be said to be a low status at the bottom of society. If you are lucky, you can work for a good master, if not…
Being a soldier isn't much better, although it's not the lowest status in this society, the things they face are much more dangerous.
For people like Noid, even if they join the army, they are just the most common type of soldier.
The situation of extortion between old and new soldiers, even having to endure beatings, having to freely carry out the requests of higher-ups. The worst thing is probably being pushed to the front line of the battlefield and dying without seeing a body.
Better to be a slave than a soldier.
Because no matter how miserable slaves were, at least they were kept alive.
For soldiers, death is normal.
"There's a rich family here that's taking in slaves. Let's go check it out."
Noid said to the girl, she nodded slightly, seeming to agree with his opinion.
When the two of them got there, there were about ten other people there as well.
After waiting for a while, it was finally their turn. A man glanced at both of them and spoke.
"Are you here to sell yourselves into slavery?"
"Yes sir."
Noid replied, puffing out his chest slightly as if to show that he was strong.
However, the man just clicked his tongue, looking disgusted.
"Enough male slaves, this place only needs female slaves."
At this moment, the girl walking behind him raised her hand.
"I... I'm female."
The man glanced at him, not knowing for a moment whether he was male or female. After all, all the refugees looked the same, thin and exhausted.
So he snapped his fingers, a middle-aged woman with a sour expression came forward and began to examine the girl. The way of examination was of course very direct, using her hands to touch.
"Okay, it's a woman."
"I did not sell myself, this man sold me."
The girl shouted.
Hearing that, both the middle-aged man and woman in charge of the inspection turned their attention towards Noid.
"You sell her?"
The man squinted, seemingly trying to see something from Noid's body. But all he saw was his expressionless face.
"Yes, I sell her."
"We would like to negotiate a little."
With that, Noid pulled the girl to a place not far away.
"I don't want to sell myself into slavery, otherwise I will never be able to escape this fate."
"You sell me, the money from the sale will be given to you, as long as you can redeem me later, okay?"
For the first time, the girl looked pleading, which made Noid fall silent.
He understood what this girl meant.
If given a choice, no one would want to be a slave.
The girl knew that even if she gave all her money to Kain, it would be difficult for him to redeem her in the future.
The reason was simple, the ransom was much larger than the few coins he received. Moreover, for refugees like Noid, even surviving was difficult, let alone saving money.
It's not a matter of whether Noid is trustworthy or not.
But even knowing that, she would still do this.
After all, having a faint hope is better than not seeing the light for the rest of your life.
Even if Noid didn't agree to redeem her, she would still do it.
Consider it as repayment for the bowl of soup and half a loaf of bread earlier. Although it was small, she would probably never be able to repay this favor in her entire life.
"If I were alive and had money, I would get you out of here."
After thinking for a while, Noid agreed.
He rarely makes promises, but when he does, he will do his best to fulfill them.